Stand Up Guys 7 Rules of Customer Service

Customer Service Rules To Live By

It doesn’t matter if your hauling junk or selling insurance, customer service is the most important aspect of your business. You can find the businesses that don’t believe this, well actually I take that back, it would be pretty hard to find them due to the fact that most likely they aren’t in business any longer.

If you don’t take care of your customers your business will die, it’s that simple. They are the life blood of any business, so make sure you are taking good care of them because they will take good care of you in return.

1. Answer the phone – Be attentive to the customer

Answering the phone seems like a simple task, and most wouldn’t even think of it when they think about ‘customer service’, but it is important…extremely important. Nobody and I mean nobody wants to call a business and hear a recording. We all like to talk to a human, no business should undervalue that in the least.

There is nothing worse for a customer then to try to contact a company or service and get nothing. It turns the customer off, makes the business look bad, and sends the customer to someone else (someone who will answer). It’s bad all the way around.

We live in a day and age where people want and get their information in the blink of an eye. If a company doesn’t answer the phone or email quickly, the customer will just find someone else, and with the internet, it’s not hard at all to find the next company in line.

Respond quickly and never let any customers go by the wayside. 

2. The customer is the boss – Always make sure they’re happy

What the customer says, goes. It’s really that simple. The “customer is always right” is just one of many clichés that I will use, but ring true every time without fail. The customer or consumer is the sole reason a business or service survives, without them there is no business. So no matter how wrong or out-of-place a customer is, they’re still right.

Sometimes in business there are great customers that are wonderfully happy with your service, and other times there are those customers that aren’t happy unless they get everything they want (and more, don’t worry, we all have them). It’s the job of the business to keep both of these types of customers happy.

When a business makes the customer feel like ‘the boss’ and let’s them know that what they want is always taken care of, the customer never forgets. That my friends is what keeps them coming back for more, and every business knows the value of a repeat customer. Priceless.

3. Do what you say you will do – Dont make promises you can’t keep

A business that does what they say they will do and stands by their promises is grade A. There is nothing worse for a customer than an unfulfilled promise.

Everyone, both customers and businesses alike want what they paid for. Make sure your business gives the customers what they want and what you told them you would give.

When someone pays for a product or service, that’s what they expect and deserve. The businesses that make the mistake of not prioritizing the fulfillment of their promises dies quickly.

Deliver on what you say you will and the customers will flock to your business.

 

4. Listen to what your customers say – Get feedback

It’s a great practice and a must for businesses to reach out to their customers to see how their experience was. Businesses should know whether or not there was anything else they could have done, or could still do to make the customers experience perfect.

No business has it all figured out, so never think that way. Getting feedback from your customers can be your number one source to maintaining great service. Also, customers love to tell about their experiences, and give insight. It’s just one more way to reach out to customers, let them know you care and also make them happy along the way.

 

5. Deal with complaints and problems – No matter how bad

Complaints and problems will happen, it’s inevitable. It happens to every business. How that business deals with problems is what sets them apart from the rest and is how customers judge them in the end.

It’s better to suck it up and deal with a problem customer, or a customer with a complaint then it is to hope they will just go away if you ignore it, because most likely they wont. An unhappy customer can ruin a business theses days.

Customers can hurt businesses with reviews, and complaints on the internet with ease. That’s the beauty of the internet, the companies that don’t care to take care of their customers get called out in front of everyone. The internet deciphers through the good and bad.

Make an unhappy customer happy, no matter what the cost and you will have yourself a customer for life.

6. Be professional – Have employees well-trained

Employees are the face of a business, when they are well-trained and professional it’s the number one way for said business to come off to customers in the right light. Well trained and happy employees will exude a companies true culture to the customers and there is nothing more important than that.

It’s exactly the same on the other end of the spectrum as well. If a business has badly trained and unprofessional employees the business will come off as such. That’s the quickest way to get a horrible reputation, piss off customers, and hurt a business.

Part of having employees that make your business stand out above the rest and really take care of customers is taking care of them as well. So always make sure that the employees are taken care of and they will exude the businesses culture to the customers.

7. Always lend a helping hand – Give more than expected

Going the “extra mile” might sound like a huge cliché, but trust me, it is beyond important when it comes to customer service. Lending a helping hand, doing a bit extra, or even offering advice to a customer when they didn’t pay for it can turn a regular happy customer into a raging fan.

The difference between a happy customer and a raging fan can mean everything to a business as well. When you go the extra mile for a customer and you give more than they expected, they not only will give your name out, they will WANT to give your name out.

A raging fan of a customer can turn into a marketing tool for a customer. Doing that little extra can honestly change a business. Always do whatever your can to take care of your customers, it will pay off in the end.